Bolton boss Owen Coyle said few days ago that he
believed Roy Hodgson is the man to take Liverpool
back to the top, so he should have no complain at all
when the Reds beat his team convincingly at the
Reebok Stadium tonight.
Hodgson is likely to field an almost identical, if not
entirely the same lineup in the match, although I hope to
see some chances in the midfield players. I hope to see
the same back-4 with Kyrgiakos continues to partner
Skrtel in central defense and Carragher at the right-back
and Konchesky completing the left-back role. Glen Johnson
will face a late fitness test to determine he is fully fit for the
match, but I say, let him be in the reserves and use him
only when required. With Kyrgiakos around, he will be
a menace to the Bolton's defense during free-kick and corners
and he maybe able to add a goal or two.
I hope to see some changes made to the midfield as I
really don't see how Maxi can continue to be featured in
matches when his performance is nothing great to talk about.
Continue to put Lucas and Meireles at the central-midfield
and Gerrald supporting Torres in attack, but switch the left
midfield role to Jovanovic and Cole at the right side.
Somehow, I don't understand why Jovanovic is sitting at
the reserves while Maxi continue to run around like a headless fly.
Let Jovanovic show us what he can do as he run around
the defense well and with his height advantage, he is a threat
at corners and free-kick again.
This is a match that I hope and see Liverpool continue the
momentum and producing another victory as long as the
team treat the match to be another must-win and play
like one. Hodgson must also act fast if the team is underperforming
and is being pin-down by Bolton (which I hope I will never see),
and makes changes to the team to correct the situation.
Bolton's goal threat will be coming from veteran striker
Kelvin Davies who is tremendous in the air and at holding up
the ball, and this is what Kyrgiakos will be called to counteract.
Expect to see a tough fight match tonight but the eventual victor
will be a convincing win for the Reds and the scoreline should stands
Bolton 0 - 2 Liverpool.
Players to watch out for: Kelvin Davies, Lee Chung-Yong, Martin Petrov
What I posted in AQ Part II
13th August 2010
Finally, it is that time of the year again!
The Barclays Premier League starts tomorrow, and this is the fixture for the first weekend's matches.
Saturday 14 August 2010
Tottenham Hotspurs VS Manchester City (7.45pm)
Aston Villa VS West Ham (10 pm for the next 6 matches)
Blackburn VS Everton
Sunderland VS Birmingham
Wigan VS Blackpool
Bolton VS Fulham
Wolverhampton VS Stoke City
Chelsea VS West Bromwich Albion (Sunday morning 12.30am)
Sunday 15 August 2010
Liverpool VS Arsenal (The Heavyweight crash of this kickoff season)
(Sunday night 11pm)
Tuesday 17 August 2010
Manchester United VS Newcastle (Tuesday morning 2.30am)
Actually, Liverpool will have quite a busy August and September as the first 5 league games will be
Liverpool VS Arsenal (15 August)
Manchester City VS Liverpool (23 August)
Liverpool VS WBA (29 August)
Birmingham VS Liverpool (12 September)
Manchester United VS Liverpool (19 September)
And in-between the league games, Liverpool still need to entertain Trabzonsor in the Europa League at home on 19 August and away on 26 August.
Liverpool definitely need to have an impressive start to the campaign as we can recall what happened to the club last season after a disastrous slow-start after losing to Spurs in the first match. My heart tells me that Liverpool is going to get a full 15 points from these 5 matches, but my brain will gladly take a 10-12 points start.
If you ask me about the current Liverpool squad, I will definitely tell you that we need to sign another quality striker as a backup to the marvelous Torres. Torres can be unstoppable when he is on form, but you can't expect him to be injury-free for the whole season. Ngog, his under-study, is still not up to the high standard required yet and he don't seems to score against the big-clubs and must further the killer instinct fast. If die-die no choice, Liverpool can put Kuyt, Babel, Pacheco and newcomer Jovanovic as stand-in forward, but we still need another, if not more, striker.
I am quite shocked that Stoke managed to sign Kenwyne Jones for 8 million from Sunderland and Liverpool didn't make the move. Jones is a quality striker in my opinion and he is used to Premier League's fast-pace matches, so he will be an asset to the team, but apparently Hodgson don't think this way. Another player that I feel has a bright future is Krisztian Nemeth which I have been watching for a while. He has the skill, speed and technique to become a super-star at Anfield, but Hodgson need to give the young man a chance to perform and shine on a big stage. With super-talented Balotelli looking set to joining cash-rich Man City, and Arsenal's speedy Chamakh, Man United's exciting Javier Hernandez and relatively unknown Bebe joining the league, it is going to be an entertaining and interesting challenge for the top scorer this year.
Somehow, I feel that Liverpool have too many midfielders on hand. If the unconfirmed
news that Spanish giants Barcelonaare set to sign Javier Mascherano which comprised of a player-plus-cash offer, with the Anfield outfit set to receive former Arsenal midfielder Aliaksandr Hleb and approximately €15 million for the Argentina captain is true, then we really have too many players at midfield. With Joe Cole, Jonjo Shelvey, Jovanovic, and Christian Poulsen in, and Riera and Benayoun out, the number of players vying for a midfield spot is going to be intense, with Babel, Gerrard, Lucas, Aquilani, Kuyt and Maxi already in the squad. Anyway, Mascherno is confirmed leaving as he simply cannot commit himself to the team, so make good use of his transfer fee, and buy another striker and defender to beef up the squad.
There isn't much changes to the defense with only young Scot Danny Wilson joining, and Insua and Aurelio "still" with the club, it is the same old-bird defense with vice-captain Carragher, Agger, Skrtel, Johnson and Kyrgiakos still in the game. The in-coming youngsters like Martin Kelly, Ayala, Stephen Darby and even the 16 years old Jack Robinson will be given chance to prove themselves this year. Reina is still the no. 1 goalkeeper and he will remain the last line of defense for many years to come, although the unconfirmed Brad Jones from Boro is a good addition to the squad.
Do you know that current Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson has the same birthday as our nation? He was born on August 9, 1947, so he is 63 this year. My understanding of him still remains that he is the manager that led Fulham to last year's Europa League final, but "luckily" he lost that match or he may not become available as Fulham will grab a strong hold on him. He seems like a very experienced tactician and likes a attacking approach which maybe a fresh scene for Liverpool this year against the much-criticised Rafa's conservative tactic.
Lastly, the saga of Liverpool's takeover looms in so many rumours and unconfirmed news. I hope that Kenny Huang and the China government backing make a serious and committed bid for the club. This will be great for the club as it can have access to a massive market with the 1.4 billion population in China. I am neutral with the other bidders as long as they are not out to fleece the club again. But any bidders have only the next 2 months to make a bid, as RBS will own the club if the increasing debts are not cleared by October. Crossing my fingers on this saga to end soon.
You Will Never Walk Alone! Go Reds!
16th August 2010
I don't blame Pepe for that ridiculously comical own-goal which costed the team 2 points, as it is what I saw from yesterday's match that makes me a firm believer that we can really aim for something BIG with Hodgson this year. Liverpool showed character, strength and tenacity, even when playing with one man down, and we could have gotten all 3 points, but we will just have to move on and win this Friday morning's Europa League match and next monday game against Man City. If we play the same way as yesterday, the future is shinning bright.
Cole will face a 3-match ban in his early Liverpool career, but we will see how the appeal (if launched) comes about. It is a nonetheless reckless tackle which he really shouldn't and don't need to put in, but Cole is not a dirty player, and his FIRST career red card had devastated him. He will definitely bounce back up after the ban and contribute greatly to the team. Ngog continued his early scoring form and it was a well-taken shot that beat the goalkeeper at the tight-angle nearpost. He will continue to grow as he learn the trade from the master, Torres, and one fine day, he will glow in the big stage.
I am having a dilemma concerning Mascherano staying/leaving the club. On one hand, if he really leaves the club, then Liverpool can look forward to receiving about 25 million transfer fee (and maybe a player-fee deal), and using the money to good use and snatch up another forward and/or defender to beef up the squad. But from what I saw him playing in yesterday match, he will continue to be a great asset if he stays. He put in well-timed (not everytime) tackles and work tirelessly in his midfield-destroyer role, and I would like to see him in action every week. It is all about the $$$ issue now.
20th August 2010
Liverpool will face a treacherous away game at Turkey next week against Trabzonspor after only managed to win this morning home game 1-0. Hodgson chose to rest 7 players which started in the last league match against Arsenal, and handled Poulsen a debut, and Babel at the centre of attack, which pays off well. Frankly, Poulsen is another hardworking workhorse but he is rather slow and off the pace of the demanding game. He has to work out to full match fitness soon.
I watched the match this morning, and the final score if according to my script should be a home win of 3-1 or 4-1. Liverpool had so many glorious scoring opportunities but cannot kill off the match ahead of the away fixture next week. Joe Cole stepped up to take a penalty won by Lucas, and missed it as the goalie dived the right direction.
Liverpool will take a slender lead to Turkey, but will it be enough? Last few European nights at Turkey have been disastrous, and this time, Hodgson do need to put in the best-eleven. In theory, Liverpool can still go the group stage with a 2-1 or 3-2 defeat or draw in Turkey, and it is not a tall order.
Elsewhere in the Europa matches, Villa drew away with Rapid Vienna, and Bad Boy Mario Balotelli scored an away goal for Man City in his debut game against Romania's FC Timisoara. This Saturday's EPL heavyweight will once again involve Liverpool as they take on Man City at Eastlands on Monday (Tuesday morning local).
24th August 2010
A Humiliating and Disgraceful defeat!
Regardless that Torres is not back to full match-fitness and sharpness in-front of the goal, and Joe Hart once again showing a superb performance in making goal-destined saves, it was an "unforgettable" match which shows Liverpool being humbled 3 times. When I saw the team line-up before the match, it was obvious that Hodgson is going for a more attacking team 4-4-2 formation with Ngog and Torres starting together. But at half-time, when I saw that the 4-3-3 Man City had 63% ball possession which was a great achievement as Liverpool is a ball-holding and controlling side, I ponder why didn't Hodgson make some changes to correct the midfield situation?
Mascherano is obviously not in the right frame of mind as he ruled himself out of the match and demand a transfer to Barcelona. I say, Give it to him. Liverpool definitely don't need such un-committed player. Take the transfer fee and get another few players. Mascherano is such an ungrateful person that he has forgotten when Liverpool signed him, he was in the West Ham reserves, and Liverpool gave him a chance to really shine and glow. Forget such a lousy attitude man and move on. He won't go far.
There are reports that Rafa would like to be re-united with Kuyt and made an 15 million deal to get him over to Inter, which was rejected by Hodgson. He should have taken the deal as at 30, Kuyt isn't going to perform like what he did seasons ago. Although I don't wish to see Kuyt leaving, but it is nevertheless a good deal which won't be repeated when this season ended. Liverpool urgently need to instill fresh bloods and the money from Mas and Kuyt's deal can be put into good use in this last week of the transfer window.
The next league match will be at home against WBA, and Liverpool need to bounce back from this defeat and beat WBA, and if possible, thrash them. Nowadays, money can really make the world spin and maybe repeat the same situation as Chelsea, it seems like Man City is a real threat to the Big 4s with a lineup full of internationals and have multiple hundred millions worth of reserves sitting on the bench waiting to be call-up into action.
You Will Never Walk Alone!
27th August 2010
Managed to scape through this tough match against Trabzonspor in Turkey with an own-goal and a 87 minute goal by Kuyt. Let's see who Liverpool will face in the draw tonight. Final score in Turkey 1-2, Total score 1-3. Good job done by the Reds nevertheless.
Saw Villa leading and Man City drawing now, still got 2nd half for them.
You Will Never Walk Alone!
the first half was terrible and the lack of concentration allow Trabzonspor to score in the 4th minute, but I think Hodgson gave the lads a "hairdryer treatment" and they came back fighting in high spirit in the 2nd half. Liverpool should at least scored a goal before the own-goal with Ngog missing a clear open goal opportunity and some other good chances. It is a good match as Liverpool has not beaten an Turkish opponent before in their home turf, and this will surely spur them on with high morale and do the same thing against WBA this Sunday. Come on Reds, thrash WBA at home, I want to see a repeat of what Chelsea did. If Chelsea can do it, so can we!
It is confirmed that Barcelona has finally signed Mascherano for a fee of about 23 million. Hodgson can use the money to snap up some players before the transfer window close on next Tuesday.
13th September 2010
Unlucky United and Lucky Reds
Seriously, United really threw away 2 points in the 3-3 draw with Everton and that will result in a harsh "hair-dryer" treatment in the dressing room after the match. I watched the game and switched channel after United was up 3-1 thinking that the game had been wrapped-up and case-closed. But to my surprise, I was reasonably amazed by Everton upping the gear in stoppage time and scored 2 goals to tie the game 3-3. Look like the "oldest" squad this season may have many things to ponder about.
Wonderful run and crosses by Nani created the goals and finally Berbatov showed why Ferguson paid 30 million to engage his service but woeful defence by United in the dying minutes made them lost 2 points.
On the other hand, Liverpool was really lucky to get a point from the match against Birmingham. Liverpool could have lost a consecutive 3-0 defeat or worse if not for the superb-form Reina who single-handedly saved those goal-destined headers.
Torres looked out-of-sort and off-the-pace and he should have been replaced at the 2nd half, but I really wonder what was Hodgson thinking when he continued to allow Torres to roam the field like a headless fly. I say give Babel a chance and allow him to show us what he is capable of. Konchesky performed quite well in his debut but was injured and substituted. I hope he is is not another Aurélio in-the-making. Meireles came off late in the game at about the 76th minutes and have only 15 minutes to show his prowess and was just too short to make an impression, but he had a chance to score late in the game although he was clearly offside. An overall lousy performance by the Reds and should have been handled the 2nd defeat of the season, but due to the heroic saves from Reina, Liverpool gained a point.
This Sunday's Battle of the Titan match between United and Liverpool at Old Trafford will definitely be a intriguing one. Will Torres once against prove to be the nemesis of Vidic or Rodney finally settled his off-the-field "affair" (pun intended) and ready to play football. Another 6 days to go and I can't wait for the Big Day, but before that, United will face Rangers at home on Wednesday morning in Champion League group match and Liverpool will head off to Romania to face Steaua Bucuresti in a Europa League group match on Friday morning.
Maxi and Lucas are just too soft and don't put in tackles like Mascherano and they don't track back as much as Kuyt. Poulsen looks to be overrated but I think he maybe still getting used to the pace and strength of the BPL matches. Jovanovic has the skill to get past players and put in nice crosses and shots but I don't like his play-acting trying to get referee's attention "technique". He need to change this and play more "cleanly" further on. Frankly, I still believe Aquilani can contribute to the team although he is also a sick-chicken like Aurelio, but Hodgson thought othewise and prefer to loan him out.
19th September 2010
The fat lady has sung, and the final result between the two most successful clubs in EPL ended in 3-2 in favour of United. Liverpool fought back bravely after going 2 goals down to a defensive-mistake header and a wonderful overhead kick by Berbatov. Gerrald scored a penalty and free-kick to level the game but Berbatov scored another hat-trick header over Carragher to make it a victory for United and handled Liverpool their 2nd loss this season.
Torres once again played below par and should have been substituted but Hodgson stick with the superstar for the whole match expecting miracle to happen, but it was not to be. He should have given Babel a chance to shine as he scored the winner in the 2-1 victory 2 season ago, and Babel have a point to prove after been given the deadline. But the main problem of this defeat is allowing too much space for Nani to explore and charge forward. Liverpool should have deployed a "shadow" to follow his every moves and put in tackles when needed. Where is the famous hardliner Poulsen when he was a terror in Italy? Has he change into a kitten and has retracted his paws? Maxi is virtually non-existence and far too too soft to contribute to the game, and it is just too bad luck that Kuyt injured himself in a stupid manner. In my opinion, only Johnson performed reasonable in defence with the remaining 3 defenders plenty of things to ponder about. Meireles and Cole are almost the same style of player and performed decently but no where near to what was expected of them. Captain Gerrald is on form but it is just too bad that he can't lead the team to at least a draw in this game.
After this match, Liverpool has 5 points from 5 matches and stands at an undesirable 16th position while United sits at the 3rd place with 11 points. The next 5 league opponents will be Sunderland (Home), Blackpool (Home), Everton (Away), Blackburn (Home) and Bolton (Away). The team really need to buck up and at least pick up 10-13 points this time. I feel quite sad that the team with such a squad but still cannot gel together and start a winning streak.
20th September 2010
I read with disgust that Ferguson's arrogant comment that he thought United should have scored 10 goals and the accusation that Torres is a cheat and that the defeat is a "catastrophe" for Liverpool. I believe that he overrated his team and if not for Berbatov's sparks of genius strikes, he may be staring at another draw and maybe even a late dramatic defeat. United did dominate the game during the 1st half but it was an entirely different story in the 2nd, but Ferguson is blinded by the victory and choose to ignore this fact. I am counting the prospect that if during a sure-win home match with United completely dominating the match with overwhelming shots and did not break the deadlock but suffered a late goal defeat by the opponent, can old Ferguson take such an "catastrophic" blow and whether a draw result maybe a "travesty" to his team instead. He is not any younger so a calm and steady stance toward the matches maybe better for his health and body, a change of his current proud, arrogant and snobbish attitude.
What was even more disturbing and shocking to me was Liverpool's manager Hodgson's reaction toward his 20 years friend's comment and accusation on his current team's performance. He is afraid to take a forceful stand against all the sarcasms from his old friend and choose to be ambiguous in his post-match interview. Why can't he be as fiery as Sammy Lee and even David Moyes? I don't see the fire in his eyes and right now, I am feeling that he is a terrible weakling and this is definitely not a good sign for the club. He has no ambition for the club, stating that the only probable target this season is a Champion League position and not winning the league, that means a 2nd-4th placing. He also stated that all the rest of the cups are not his target. There is a very thin line between being realistic and ambitious, and I want the manager to be the latter rather than setting a low target and anything better is a bonus. I say, give the man a deadline too, as what he gave to Babel, to perform in both domestic and European matches, and if he is not up to the mark, get Dalglish to replace him. Anyway, Dalglish will always be the fans' choice and Hodgson is the club management's decision. Let Hodgson walk alone out of Anfield if he is found to be a "negative asset" to the club.
23th September 2010
Liverpool crashed out of League cup to a team in the 4th division and 69 places below through penalty after a 2-2 draw after extra time, what else can I say?
Although this is a cup that Hodgson placed little emphasis and focus on, as he made 11 changes to the team that lost to United at the weekend, but this is a match that the Anfield faithfuls hope to see a victory. I didn't watch the match live so I can only derive my views and opinions based on the reports that I read, but the tone of the reports are reasonably harsh on the Reds.
It was reported that fan boo and jeer the team and players after the embarrassing defeat in a half-filled Anfield, and rightly so. If I have watch the match live, I will also be shell-shocked and malu by such terrible performance. You can say that because the understrength fielded players are not familiar with one another as this maybe the first time that they have worked together. This is a lousy excuse as they are highly-paid professionals and by hook or by crook they need to deliver the result, and they didn't. Historically, Liverpool have never sack a manager before a season ended, but Hodgson is really walking on a tight rope now, and history is maybe in the making.
Hodgson did apologize to the fans for the cup exit "admitting he and the players had to accept responsibility for the defeat." I think this defeat will linger in the fans' memory for a while, and the extremely optimistic fans will said that at least we can now turn our focus to the remaining silverware to fight for: League title, FA Cup and Europa League. But if the league result is not getting better, then he will be one to walk alone out of Anfield. This weekend's home game against Sunderland will be an all-important one, and I expect hostile receptions from certain sectors of the stadium, while the hardcore faithfuls continue to sing "You Will Never Walk Alone".
Coincidentally, Chelsea and Man City are also out this least-importance cup, but they lost to fellow Premier League teams Newcastle and WBA, while Liverpool lost to a minnow, this is the biggest difference.
4th October 2010
It never rains but it pours at Miseryside, a mocking term used by the press to describe the plight of the 2 teams, Everton and Liverpool, from Merseyside. Everton finally recorded a win and moved out of the relegation zone while Liverpool again failed to win at Anfield. After the United defeat, I was glad to see that the next 2 matches will be at home against Sunderland and Backpool which under normal circumstance is warranted for a 4-6 points. Captain Gerrald saved the point at the first match, but this time nobody can save Liverpool for recording their 1st defeat at home in the league. To make things worse, Torres limp off the match after 10 minutes with a supposed groin injury, and we just have to see how bad is the condition. Luckily, with a silver lining in the cloud, he got 2 weeks to recover before the Miseryside Derby on the 17th against Everton.
The Reds supporters and fans boo off the team after the final whistle and sang "Dalglish" toward the end. I say, it is time to take some drastic action before anything worse happens. In the history book, Liverpool has never fired any manager before the season is over, but everything has it first, and this is exactly the time to make history. I really can't see Hodgson leading the team to glory or at least out of the misery. He simply has no fire in his eye and heart, no ambition of any sort. In my own opinion, he is just a mediocre manager, at his best. He is definitely not an tactician and he is simply hoping for miracle to happen when he fields his first eleven in a match. He don't dare to switch the superstars when they are clearly struggling and if he is that good, he won't be using the same tactic as Rafa. In my view, Hodgson is far worse than Rafa's reign at the club. Obviously, he is lost at the moment and really don't know what to do next, so maybe the club should lead him to the door. Angry calls for his head will be swarming in and it is time to bring out the axe. We got a fan favourite, King Dalglish on stand-by and he will be THE one to bring the Reds to glory and fame again.
You know when they say "Pay Peanuts and You get monkey". We got Maxi, Jovanovic and Cole on a free transfer, and frankly speaking, they are not performing at all. Maxi got to go in the January transfer window. After Mascherano and Insua left the club, his performance has gone downhill. Maybe is because of the lack of fellow companionship or whatsoever, but he got to go, even if it only a mere 2 million.
I like how Jovanovic play his football although I detest his occasional foul-wanting dives. He is a fighter and good left winger but he don't like to defense as much as what Hodgson want him to. I feel that he is obviously better than Cole on the left side and with his clear height advantage, he can and will be a constant threat in the air for any opponent, but Hodgson don't feel that way, and I can sense his frustration for not able to do more for the club.
From what I see, Ancelotti is really shrewd to allow Cole to leave the club and move to Liverpool. He also said that he thought Benayoun is better than Cole, and after watching those matches that Cole featured, I have to agree with the Italian. Cole came to Anfield with high hopes and expectations but he had failed terribly in my report book. He is made to play as a left winger and I do know that is not his natural playing position, but he is so predictable to the opposing defenders. He is always looking to cut into the centre and not crossing well and enough into the box. He don't provide support and cover for the left-back, which is by-far the most unfortunate position with all the regular left-back out with injuries. His playing style may work in Europe, but back in the league, he is just a common player, but since we got him for free, what can we say much?
Another highly-rated player to come to Anfield and to me is fast becoming a flop is Poulsen. He made his name in Germany, Spain and Italy as a fiery character packed with crunching tackles and an uncompromising midfield maestro. But suddenly, he became a cute and cuddly kitten in England, and one wonder where did his ferocious playing style goes to? He can't be compared to Mascherano and I feel that Lucas is better than this kitten with his once in a blue moon great individual goals. Till this day, I still believe that Aquilani is good enough to wear the Reds jersey but Hodgson just want to bring in his old-flame and this is a terrible mistake as Poulsen is not the same when they were together in FC Copenhagen. I say, bring Aquilani back.
Meireles is performing at a commendable level and it is 14 million well paid for although it is still consider pricey when I watched how the 8-million bargain buy Rafael van der Vaart performed in Spurs. Gerrald inter-switch with Meireles well and both can lead the attack as well as coming back to defense, and this is a good sign that I hope can lead to a something tangible. Kuyt's performance this season is erratic and not in his prime yet. He continues to work tirelessly till the final whistle and have a never-say-die attitude that I admire, but he is fast becoming THE headless fly in the team. He is much better as a right winger than a striker, but his recent runs had been rather meaningless and not as intimidating as before, and his leg is faltering fast.
I am hoping for Lady Luck to shine on the Reds at the Merseyside Derby in 2 weeks, and sometimes a tiny bit of the luck element will change the entire match in an instance. With a little luck, the one-to-one shot by Cole should have landed in the bottom-left corner, and maybe the thunderous header by Kyrgiakos may have gotten the team 3 points, but you can't change history now. A victory will earn the team 3 points and it is very crucial now to get into winning games.
Crisis, Chaos, Calamity, Catastrophe and Relegation Casualty are the 5 Cs associated with the team now, but I can only pray for the worst is over and the dark cloud will dispersed soon. The team should be able to rise up to the demanding challenges and stay calm to deliver classy and captivating football again, and maybe charging late toward the championship and the cups.
You Will Never Walk Alone!
11-16 September 2010
I have been saying bad comments on Poulsen in as many weeks, and it look I am right after all. He is a over-rated and over-hyped
player who is not up to the standard required in Premier League. He may do well in Italy, Germany but not in England and unfortunately he is with Liverpool now. If possible, Hogdson should get rid of Poulsen fast if he is still around to do so. Both should go in my opinion.
It has been confirmed that ex-Remisier King, Peter Lim was the unnamed Asian party who had earlier made an offer for the English soccer club worth 300 million pounds ($476.5 million) but lost out to a similar-sized bid from U.S.-based New England Sports Ventures, the owner of the Boston Red Sox baseball team. Peter has more money than John Henry, and was ranked 655th on Forbes magazine's list of global billionaires in March with a net worth of $1.5 billion.
He is set to make an improved offer for Liverpool, a day before a court case that could help to force through the Boston Red Sox owners' bid for the English club that has already been accepted by the board. Peter hinted he would be willing to trump the bid from Henry’s New England Sports Ventures company by about £100million, raising his offer to close to £400m. And he claims that if he succeeds in taking control at Anfield he would:* Wipe out £200m of club debt.
Finally, it is that time of the year again!
The Barclays Premier League starts tomorrow, and this is the fixture for the first weekend's matches.
Saturday 14 August 2010
Tottenham Hotspurs VS Manchester City (7.45pm)
Aston Villa VS West Ham (10 pm for the next 6 matches)
Blackburn VS Everton
Sunderland VS Birmingham
Wigan VS Blackpool
Bolton VS Fulham
Wolverhampton VS Stoke City
Chelsea VS West Bromwich Albion (Sunday morning 12.30am)
Sunday 15 August 2010
Liverpool VS Arsenal (The Heavyweight crash of this kickoff season)
(Sunday night 11pm)
Tuesday 17 August 2010
Manchester United VS Newcastle (Tuesday morning 2.30am)
Actually, Liverpool will have quite a busy August and September as the first 5 league games will be
Liverpool VS Arsenal (15 August)
Manchester City VS Liverpool (23 August)
Liverpool VS WBA (29 August)
Birmingham VS Liverpool (12 September)
Manchester United VS Liverpool (19 September)
And in-between the league games, Liverpool still need to entertain Trabzonsor in the Europa League at home on 19 August and away on 26 August.
Liverpool definitely need to have an impressive start to the campaign as we can recall what happened to the club last season after a disastrous slow-start after losing to Spurs in the first match. My heart tells me that Liverpool is going to get a full 15 points from these 5 matches, but my brain will gladly take a 10-12 points start. If you ask me about the current Liverpool squad, I will definitely tell you that we need to sign another quality striker as a backup to the marvelous Torres. Torres can be unstoppable when he is on form, but you can't expect him to be injury-free for the whole season. Ngog, his under-study, is still not up to the high standard required yet and he don't seems to score against the big-clubs and must further the killer instinct fast. If die-die no choice, Liverpool can put Kuyt, Babel, Pacheco and newcomer Jovanovic as stand-in forward, but we still need another, if not more, striker.
I am quite shocked that Stoke managed to sign Kenwyne Jones for 8 million from Sunderland and Liverpool didn't make the move. Jones is a quality striker in my opinion and he is used to Premier League's fast-pace matches, so he will be an asset to the team, but apparently Hodgson don't think this way. Another player that I feel has a bright future is Krisztian Nemeth which I have been watching for a while. He has the skill, speed and technique to become a super-star at Anfield, but Hodgson need to give the young man a chance to perform and shine on a big stage. With super-talented Balotelli looking set to joining cash-rich Man City, and Arsenal's speedy Chamakh, Man United's exciting Javier Hernandez and relatively unknown Bebe joining the league, it is going to be an entertaining and interesting challenge for the top scorer this year.
Somehow, I feel that Liverpool have too many midfielders on hand. If the unconfirmed
news that Spanish giants Barcelonaare set to sign Javier Mascherano which comprised of a player-plus-cash offer, with the Anfield outfit set to receive former Arsenal midfielder Aliaksandr Hleb and approximately €15 million for the Argentina captain is true, then we really have too many players at midfield. With Joe Cole, Jonjo Shelvey, Jovanovic, and Christian Poulsen in, and Riera and Benayoun out, the number of players vying for a midfield spot is going to be intense, with Babel, Gerrard, Lucas, Aquilani, Kuyt and Maxi already in the squad. Anyway, Mascherno is confirmed leaving as he simply cannot commit himself to the team, so make good use of his transfer fee, and buy another striker and defender to beef up the squad.
There isn't much changes to the defense with only young Scot Danny Wilson joining, and Insua and Aurelio "still" with the club, it is the same old-bird defense with vice-captain Carragher, Agger, Skrtel, Johnson and Kyrgiakos still in the game. The in-coming youngsters like Martin Kelly, Ayala, Stephen Darby and even the 16 years old Jack Robinson will be given chance to prove themselves this year. Reina is still the no. 1 goalkeeper and he will remain the last line of defense for many years to come, although the unconfirmed Brad Jones from Boro is a good addition to the squad.
Do you know that current Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson has the same birthday as our nation? He was born on August 9, 1947, so he is 63 this year. My understanding of him still remains that he is the manager that led Fulham to last year's Europa League final, but "luckily" he lost that match or he may not become available as Fulham will grab a strong hold on him. He seems like a very experienced tactician and likes a attacking approach which maybe a fresh scene for Liverpool this year against the much-criticised Rafa's conservative tactic.
Lastly, the saga of Liverpool's takeover looms in so many rumours and unconfirmed news. I hope that Kenny Huang and the China government backing make a serious and committed bid for the club. This will be great for the club as it can have access to a massive market with the 1.4 billion population in China. I am neutral with the other bidders as long as they are not out to fleece the club again. But any bidders have only the next 2 months to make a bid, as RBS will own the club if the increasing debts are not cleared by October. Crossing my fingers on this saga to end soon.
You Will Never Walk Alone! Go Reds!
16th August 2010
I don't blame Pepe for that ridiculously comical own-goal which costed the team 2 points, as it is what I saw from yesterday's match that makes me a firm believer that we can really aim for something BIG with Hodgson this year. Liverpool showed character, strength and tenacity, even when playing with one man down, and we could have gotten all 3 points, but we will just have to move on and win this Friday morning's Europa League match and next monday game against Man City. If we play the same way as yesterday, the future is shinning bright.
Cole will face a 3-match ban in his early Liverpool career, but we will see how the appeal (if launched) comes about. It is a nonetheless reckless tackle which he really shouldn't and don't need to put in, but Cole is not a dirty player, and his FIRST career red card had devastated him. He will definitely bounce back up after the ban and contribute greatly to the team. Ngog continued his early scoring form and it was a well-taken shot that beat the goalkeeper at the tight-angle nearpost. He will continue to grow as he learn the trade from the master, Torres, and one fine day, he will glow in the big stage.
I am having a dilemma concerning Mascherano staying/leaving the club. On one hand, if he really leaves the club, then Liverpool can look forward to receiving about 25 million transfer fee (and maybe a player-fee deal), and using the money to good use and snatch up another forward and/or defender to beef up the squad. But from what I saw him playing in yesterday match, he will continue to be a great asset if he stays. He put in well-timed (not everytime) tackles and work tirelessly in his midfield-destroyer role, and I would like to see him in action every week. It is all about the $$$ issue now.
20th August 2010
Liverpool will face a treacherous away game at Turkey next week against Trabzonspor after only managed to win this morning home game 1-0. Hodgson chose to rest 7 players which started in the last league match against Arsenal, and handled Poulsen a debut, and Babel at the centre of attack, which pays off well. Frankly, Poulsen is another hardworking workhorse but he is rather slow and off the pace of the demanding game. He has to work out to full match fitness soon.
I watched the match this morning, and the final score if according to my script should be a home win of 3-1 or 4-1. Liverpool had so many glorious scoring opportunities but cannot kill off the match ahead of the away fixture next week. Joe Cole stepped up to take a penalty won by Lucas, and missed it as the goalie dived the right direction.
Liverpool will take a slender lead to Turkey, but will it be enough? Last few European nights at Turkey have been disastrous, and this time, Hodgson do need to put in the best-eleven. In theory, Liverpool can still go the group stage with a 2-1 or 3-2 defeat or draw in Turkey, and it is not a tall order.
Elsewhere in the Europa matches, Villa drew away with Rapid Vienna, and Bad Boy Mario Balotelli scored an away goal for Man City in his debut game against Romania's FC Timisoara. This Saturday's EPL heavyweight will once again involve Liverpool as they take on Man City at Eastlands on Monday (Tuesday morning local).
24th August 2010
A Humiliating and Disgraceful defeat!
Regardless that Torres is not back to full match-fitness and sharpness in-front of the goal, and Joe Hart once again showing a superb performance in making goal-destined saves, it was an "unforgettable" match which shows Liverpool being humbled 3 times. When I saw the team line-up before the match, it was obvious that Hodgson is going for a more attacking team 4-4-2 formation with Ngog and Torres starting together. But at half-time, when I saw that the 4-3-3 Man City had 63% ball possession which was a great achievement as Liverpool is a ball-holding and controlling side, I ponder why didn't Hodgson make some changes to correct the midfield situation?
Mascherano is obviously not in the right frame of mind as he ruled himself out of the match and demand a transfer to Barcelona. I say, Give it to him. Liverpool definitely don't need such un-committed player. Take the transfer fee and get another few players. Mascherano is such an ungrateful person that he has forgotten when Liverpool signed him, he was in the West Ham reserves, and Liverpool gave him a chance to really shine and glow. Forget such a lousy attitude man and move on. He won't go far.
There are reports that Rafa would like to be re-united with Kuyt and made an 15 million deal to get him over to Inter, which was rejected by Hodgson. He should have taken the deal as at 30, Kuyt isn't going to perform like what he did seasons ago. Although I don't wish to see Kuyt leaving, but it is nevertheless a good deal which won't be repeated when this season ended. Liverpool urgently need to instill fresh bloods and the money from Mas and Kuyt's deal can be put into good use in this last week of the transfer window.
The next league match will be at home against WBA, and Liverpool need to bounce back from this defeat and beat WBA, and if possible, thrash them. Nowadays, money can really make the world spin and maybe repeat the same situation as Chelsea, it seems like Man City is a real threat to the Big 4s with a lineup full of internationals and have multiple hundred millions worth of reserves sitting on the bench waiting to be call-up into action.
You Will Never Walk Alone!
27th August 2010
Managed to scape through this tough match against Trabzonspor in Turkey with an own-goal and a 87 minute goal by Kuyt. Let's see who Liverpool will face in the draw tonight. Final score in Turkey 1-2, Total score 1-3. Good job done by the Reds nevertheless.
Saw Villa leading and Man City drawing now, still got 2nd half for them.
You Will Never Walk Alone!
the first half was terrible and the lack of concentration allow Trabzonspor to score in the 4th minute, but I think Hodgson gave the lads a "hairdryer treatment" and they came back fighting in high spirit in the 2nd half. Liverpool should at least scored a goal before the own-goal with Ngog missing a clear open goal opportunity and some other good chances. It is a good match as Liverpool has not beaten an Turkish opponent before in their home turf, and this will surely spur them on with high morale and do the same thing against WBA this Sunday. Come on Reds, thrash WBA at home, I want to see a repeat of what Chelsea did. If Chelsea can do it, so can we!
It is confirmed that Barcelona has finally signed Mascherano for a fee of about 23 million. Hodgson can use the money to snap up some players before the transfer window close on next Tuesday.
13th September 2010
Unlucky United and Lucky Reds
Seriously, United really threw away 2 points in the 3-3 draw with Everton and that will result in a harsh "hair-dryer" treatment in the dressing room after the match. I watched the game and switched channel after United was up 3-1 thinking that the game had been wrapped-up and case-closed. But to my surprise, I was reasonably amazed by Everton upping the gear in stoppage time and scored 2 goals to tie the game 3-3. Look like the "oldest" squad this season may have many things to ponder about.
Wonderful run and crosses by Nani created the goals and finally Berbatov showed why Ferguson paid 30 million to engage his service but woeful defence by United in the dying minutes made them lost 2 points.
On the other hand, Liverpool was really lucky to get a point from the match against Birmingham. Liverpool could have lost a consecutive 3-0 defeat or worse if not for the superb-form Reina who single-handedly saved those goal-destined headers.
Torres looked out-of-sort and off-the-pace and he should have been replaced at the 2nd half, but I really wonder what was Hodgson thinking when he continued to allow Torres to roam the field like a headless fly. I say give Babel a chance and allow him to show us what he is capable of. Konchesky performed quite well in his debut but was injured and substituted. I hope he is is not another Aurélio in-the-making. Meireles came off late in the game at about the 76th minutes and have only 15 minutes to show his prowess and was just too short to make an impression, but he had a chance to score late in the game although he was clearly offside. An overall lousy performance by the Reds and should have been handled the 2nd defeat of the season, but due to the heroic saves from Reina, Liverpool gained a point.
This Sunday's Battle of the Titan match between United and Liverpool at Old Trafford will definitely be a intriguing one. Will Torres once against prove to be the nemesis of Vidic or Rodney finally settled his off-the-field "affair" (pun intended) and ready to play football. Another 6 days to go and I can't wait for the Big Day, but before that, United will face Rangers at home on Wednesday morning in Champion League group match and Liverpool will head off to Romania to face Steaua Bucuresti in a Europa League group match on Friday morning.
Maxi and Lucas are just too soft and don't put in tackles like Mascherano and they don't track back as much as Kuyt. Poulsen looks to be overrated but I think he maybe still getting used to the pace and strength of the BPL matches. Jovanovic has the skill to get past players and put in nice crosses and shots but I don't like his play-acting trying to get referee's attention "technique". He need to change this and play more "cleanly" further on. Frankly, I still believe Aquilani can contribute to the team although he is also a sick-chicken like Aurelio, but Hodgson thought othewise and prefer to loan him out.
19th September 2010
The fat lady has sung, and the final result between the two most successful clubs in EPL ended in 3-2 in favour of United. Liverpool fought back bravely after going 2 goals down to a defensive-mistake header and a wonderful overhead kick by Berbatov. Gerrald scored a penalty and free-kick to level the game but Berbatov scored another hat-trick header over Carragher to make it a victory for United and handled Liverpool their 2nd loss this season.
Torres once again played below par and should have been substituted but Hodgson stick with the superstar for the whole match expecting miracle to happen, but it was not to be. He should have given Babel a chance to shine as he scored the winner in the 2-1 victory 2 season ago, and Babel have a point to prove after been given the deadline. But the main problem of this defeat is allowing too much space for Nani to explore and charge forward. Liverpool should have deployed a "shadow" to follow his every moves and put in tackles when needed. Where is the famous hardliner Poulsen when he was a terror in Italy? Has he change into a kitten and has retracted his paws? Maxi is virtually non-existence and far too too soft to contribute to the game, and it is just too bad luck that Kuyt injured himself in a stupid manner. In my opinion, only Johnson performed reasonable in defence with the remaining 3 defenders plenty of things to ponder about. Meireles and Cole are almost the same style of player and performed decently but no where near to what was expected of them. Captain Gerrald is on form but it is just too bad that he can't lead the team to at least a draw in this game.
After this match, Liverpool has 5 points from 5 matches and stands at an undesirable 16th position while United sits at the 3rd place with 11 points. The next 5 league opponents will be Sunderland (Home), Blackpool (Home), Everton (Away), Blackburn (Home) and Bolton (Away). The team really need to buck up and at least pick up 10-13 points this time. I feel quite sad that the team with such a squad but still cannot gel together and start a winning streak.
20th September 2010
I read with disgust that Ferguson's arrogant comment that he thought United should have scored 10 goals and the accusation that Torres is a cheat and that the defeat is a "catastrophe" for Liverpool. I believe that he overrated his team and if not for Berbatov's sparks of genius strikes, he may be staring at another draw and maybe even a late dramatic defeat. United did dominate the game during the 1st half but it was an entirely different story in the 2nd, but Ferguson is blinded by the victory and choose to ignore this fact. I am counting the prospect that if during a sure-win home match with United completely dominating the match with overwhelming shots and did not break the deadlock but suffered a late goal defeat by the opponent, can old Ferguson take such an "catastrophic" blow and whether a draw result maybe a "travesty" to his team instead. He is not any younger so a calm and steady stance toward the matches maybe better for his health and body, a change of his current proud, arrogant and snobbish attitude.
What was even more disturbing and shocking to me was Liverpool's manager Hodgson's reaction toward his 20 years friend's comment and accusation on his current team's performance. He is afraid to take a forceful stand against all the sarcasms from his old friend and choose to be ambiguous in his post-match interview. Why can't he be as fiery as Sammy Lee and even David Moyes? I don't see the fire in his eyes and right now, I am feeling that he is a terrible weakling and this is definitely not a good sign for the club. He has no ambition for the club, stating that the only probable target this season is a Champion League position and not winning the league, that means a 2nd-4th placing. He also stated that all the rest of the cups are not his target. There is a very thin line between being realistic and ambitious, and I want the manager to be the latter rather than setting a low target and anything better is a bonus. I say, give the man a deadline too, as what he gave to Babel, to perform in both domestic and European matches, and if he is not up to the mark, get Dalglish to replace him. Anyway, Dalglish will always be the fans' choice and Hodgson is the club management's decision. Let Hodgson walk alone out of Anfield if he is found to be a "negative asset" to the club.
23th September 2010
Liverpool crashed out of League cup to a team in the 4th division and 69 places below through penalty after a 2-2 draw after extra time, what else can I say?
Although this is a cup that Hodgson placed little emphasis and focus on, as he made 11 changes to the team that lost to United at the weekend, but this is a match that the Anfield faithfuls hope to see a victory. I didn't watch the match live so I can only derive my views and opinions based on the reports that I read, but the tone of the reports are reasonably harsh on the Reds.
It was reported that fan boo and jeer the team and players after the embarrassing defeat in a half-filled Anfield, and rightly so. If I have watch the match live, I will also be shell-shocked and malu by such terrible performance. You can say that because the understrength fielded players are not familiar with one another as this maybe the first time that they have worked together. This is a lousy excuse as they are highly-paid professionals and by hook or by crook they need to deliver the result, and they didn't. Historically, Liverpool have never sack a manager before a season ended, but Hodgson is really walking on a tight rope now, and history is maybe in the making.
Hodgson did apologize to the fans for the cup exit "admitting he and the players had to accept responsibility for the defeat." I think this defeat will linger in the fans' memory for a while, and the extremely optimistic fans will said that at least we can now turn our focus to the remaining silverware to fight for: League title, FA Cup and Europa League. But if the league result is not getting better, then he will be one to walk alone out of Anfield. This weekend's home game against Sunderland will be an all-important one, and I expect hostile receptions from certain sectors of the stadium, while the hardcore faithfuls continue to sing "You Will Never Walk Alone".
Coincidentally, Chelsea and Man City are also out this least-importance cup, but they lost to fellow Premier League teams Newcastle and WBA, while Liverpool lost to a minnow, this is the biggest difference.
4th October 2010
It never rains but it pours at Miseryside, a mocking term used by the press to describe the plight of the 2 teams, Everton and Liverpool, from Merseyside. Everton finally recorded a win and moved out of the relegation zone while Liverpool again failed to win at Anfield. After the United defeat, I was glad to see that the next 2 matches will be at home against Sunderland and Backpool which under normal circumstance is warranted for a 4-6 points. Captain Gerrald saved the point at the first match, but this time nobody can save Liverpool for recording their 1st defeat at home in the league. To make things worse, Torres limp off the match after 10 minutes with a supposed groin injury, and we just have to see how bad is the condition. Luckily, with a silver lining in the cloud, he got 2 weeks to recover before the Miseryside Derby on the 17th against Everton.
The Reds supporters and fans boo off the team after the final whistle and sang "Dalglish" toward the end. I say, it is time to take some drastic action before anything worse happens. In the history book, Liverpool has never fired any manager before the season is over, but everything has it first, and this is exactly the time to make history. I really can't see Hodgson leading the team to glory or at least out of the misery. He simply has no fire in his eye and heart, no ambition of any sort. In my own opinion, he is just a mediocre manager, at his best. He is definitely not an tactician and he is simply hoping for miracle to happen when he fields his first eleven in a match. He don't dare to switch the superstars when they are clearly struggling and if he is that good, he won't be using the same tactic as Rafa. In my view, Hodgson is far worse than Rafa's reign at the club. Obviously, he is lost at the moment and really don't know what to do next, so maybe the club should lead him to the door. Angry calls for his head will be swarming in and it is time to bring out the axe. We got a fan favourite, King Dalglish on stand-by and he will be THE one to bring the Reds to glory and fame again.
You know when they say "Pay Peanuts and You get monkey". We got Maxi, Jovanovic and Cole on a free transfer, and frankly speaking, they are not performing at all. Maxi got to go in the January transfer window. After Mascherano and Insua left the club, his performance has gone downhill. Maybe is because of the lack of fellow companionship or whatsoever, but he got to go, even if it only a mere 2 million.
I like how Jovanovic play his football although I detest his occasional foul-wanting dives. He is a fighter and good left winger but he don't like to defense as much as what Hodgson want him to. I feel that he is obviously better than Cole on the left side and with his clear height advantage, he can and will be a constant threat in the air for any opponent, but Hodgson don't feel that way, and I can sense his frustration for not able to do more for the club.
From what I see, Ancelotti is really shrewd to allow Cole to leave the club and move to Liverpool. He also said that he thought Benayoun is better than Cole, and after watching those matches that Cole featured, I have to agree with the Italian. Cole came to Anfield with high hopes and expectations but he had failed terribly in my report book. He is made to play as a left winger and I do know that is not his natural playing position, but he is so predictable to the opposing defenders. He is always looking to cut into the centre and not crossing well and enough into the box. He don't provide support and cover for the left-back, which is by-far the most unfortunate position with all the regular left-back out with injuries. His playing style may work in Europe, but back in the league, he is just a common player, but since we got him for free, what can we say much?
Another highly-rated player to come to Anfield and to me is fast becoming a flop is Poulsen. He made his name in Germany, Spain and Italy as a fiery character packed with crunching tackles and an uncompromising midfield maestro. But suddenly, he became a cute and cuddly kitten in England, and one wonder where did his ferocious playing style goes to? He can't be compared to Mascherano and I feel that Lucas is better than this kitten with his once in a blue moon great individual goals. Till this day, I still believe that Aquilani is good enough to wear the Reds jersey but Hodgson just want to bring in his old-flame and this is a terrible mistake as Poulsen is not the same when they were together in FC Copenhagen. I say, bring Aquilani back.
Meireles is performing at a commendable level and it is 14 million well paid for although it is still consider pricey when I watched how the 8-million bargain buy Rafael van der Vaart performed in Spurs. Gerrald inter-switch with Meireles well and both can lead the attack as well as coming back to defense, and this is a good sign that I hope can lead to a something tangible. Kuyt's performance this season is erratic and not in his prime yet. He continues to work tirelessly till the final whistle and have a never-say-die attitude that I admire, but he is fast becoming THE headless fly in the team. He is much better as a right winger than a striker, but his recent runs had been rather meaningless and not as intimidating as before, and his leg is faltering fast.
I am hoping for Lady Luck to shine on the Reds at the Merseyside Derby in 2 weeks, and sometimes a tiny bit of the luck element will change the entire match in an instance. With a little luck, the one-to-one shot by Cole should have landed in the bottom-left corner, and maybe the thunderous header by Kyrgiakos may have gotten the team 3 points, but you can't change history now. A victory will earn the team 3 points and it is very crucial now to get into winning games.
Crisis, Chaos, Calamity, Catastrophe and Relegation Casualty are the 5 Cs associated with the team now, but I can only pray for the worst is over and the dark cloud will dispersed soon. The team should be able to rise up to the demanding challenges and stay calm to deliver classy and captivating football again, and maybe charging late toward the championship and the cups.
You Will Never Walk Alone!
11-16 September 2010
I have been saying bad comments on Poulsen in as many weeks, and it look I am right after all. He is a over-rated and over-hyped
player who is not up to the standard required in Premier League. He may do well in Italy, Germany but not in England and unfortunately he is with Liverpool now. If possible, Hogdson should get rid of Poulsen fast if he is still around to do so. Both should go in my opinion.
It has been confirmed that ex-Remisier King, Peter Lim was the unnamed Asian party who had earlier made an offer for the English soccer club worth 300 million pounds ($476.5 million) but lost out to a similar-sized bid from U.S.-based New England Sports Ventures, the owner of the Boston Red Sox baseball team. Peter has more money than John Henry, and was ranked 655th on Forbes magazine's list of global billionaires in March with a net worth of $1.5 billion.
He is set to make an improved offer for Liverpool, a day before a court case that could help to force through the Boston Red Sox owners' bid for the English club that has already been accepted by the board. Peter hinted he would be willing to trump the bid from Henry’s New England Sports Ventures company by about £100million, raising his offer to close to £400m. And he claims that if he succeeds in taking control at Anfield he would:* Wipe out £200m of club debt.
* Take on another £60m Liverpool still owe.
* Put almost £40m on the table for Roy Hodgson to strengthen his squad.
* Put almost £40m on the table for Roy Hodgson to strengthen his squad.
Lim believed his original offer was more attractive than those of his rivals because it was being financed from his own personal fortune, rather than through borrowing. But the current board are determined to push through their agreement with NESV. Lim is said to be ready to pounce with his revised offer, particularly if *Liverpool co-owners Tom Hicks and business partner George Gillett emerge successful from today’s High Court hearing, despite having lost all credibility with fans.
I would prefer Peter Lim to be the new owner of the club, but I may be wrong in this, I somehow recall from somewhere that I read that he is a Man Utd fan. I stand to be corrected.
I would prefer Peter Lim to be the new owner of the club, but I may be wrong in this, I somehow recall from somewhere that I read that he is a Man Utd fan. I stand to be corrected.
I think I am right after all. According to a report, Peter's interest in English football stems from his ownership of several Manchester United themed bars in Asia - which have persuaded him that there is huge global potential for making money from top-flight English football. He and his good friend, Dennis Foo are Man Utd fan. I knew I read it somewhere before.
The Liverpool debt crisis is finally over, New England Sports Ventures had finally completed the takeover is now the owner of the club. With the off-the-field saga over, Hodgson and his man will have no more lousy excuses to blame their mediocre performance with other issues. Now the focus will be back to winning matches after matches, starting with the derby game tomorrow with Everton at Goodison park.
You Will Never Walk Alone.
You Will Never Walk Alone.
17th October 2010
A defeat at Merseyside derby by Everton.
I got nothing kind or good to say about the disastrous defeat, so I will keep my mouth temporarily shut for the time being.
I am thinking of setting up a blog to talk about Liverpool's performance and anything and everything about the team. I will have to ask Vinz (Vincent) permission whether I can put the website at the signature. It will definitely be more vocal and maybe even vulgar at the blog, as the team really need a wake-up knock. Will see whether Vinz approve it first.
Regardless of what is the result, I am always behind the team.
You Will Never Walk Alone.
I got nothing kind or good to say about the disastrous defeat, so I will keep my mouth temporarily shut for the time being.
I am thinking of setting up a blog to talk about Liverpool's performance and anything and everything about the team. I will have to ask Vinz (Vincent) permission whether I can put the website at the signature. It will definitely be more vocal and maybe even vulgar at the blog, as the team really need a wake-up knock. Will see whether Vinz approve it first.
Regardless of what is the result, I am always behind the team.
You Will Never Walk Alone.
And this is how this blog comes about....
What I posted in AQ Part I
8th April 2010
Let me see, I am a football fan for over 20 years when I was in primary school and support Liverpool Football Club since then. Watch the games from free-to-air Channel 5 and 12 (If you don't know this channel, then you should be very young now
) ranging English Divsion 1, FA Cup, League (Coca Cola, Littlewoods, Worthington, Carling) Cup, Serie A, German League, European Cup, Cup Winners Cup, UEFA Cup, European Championship and World Cup then till now pay-to-watch English Premier League (EPL) to now Barclay Premier League (BPL), Champions League and Europa League.
It has been great being able to watch so many football matches and superstars displaying their spectacular and amazing skill to score goals and win matches. My CO used to comment that it is so boring and waste-of-time to watch 22 able-bodied man chasing after a small football, but she got "poisoned and psycho" by me and watch the games and cheer and shout with me now.
9th April 2010
A good attacking display by Liverpool produced 4 goals to power past Benfica
into the Europa League semi-final. Finally a much better-than-expected performance from Lucas to show calm and composure in a one-to-one situation with the goalkeeper and ended up rounding the goalie and score the second goal. As usual, Torres show why he is one of the deadly striker in the world to score 2 well-placed goals. He really need to guide Ngog in dealing with such a situation as he could have score the match winner against Birmingham in injury time last weekend.
Liverpool will face Fulham at Anfield this Sunday whom is also in the Europa League semi-final after beating Wolfsburg home and away. Look like we will have a battle of the in-form strikers between Torres and Zamora!
23th April 2010
Another away defeat in the Europa League, this time at the hand of Atletico Madrid. Need a turn-around game at Anfield again to go into the Final. Did it against Lille and Benfica, but Torres was around in those 2 matches, and this time he won't be around for next week's match.
Actually, if you ask me before yesterday match whether I will take 1-0 away defeat, I will reluctantly take it. It is the the manner in which Liverpool lost the match that angered me. I watched the match this morning, and only 3 shots and ZERO shot-on-target for the whole 93 minutes. It is that terrible!
Seriously, I don't think Ngog is of the high-standard required in Liverpool squad. I know he is still at 21 years old but that is not an excuse. Maybe if Voronin was not sold in December, he will perform better than Ngog.
I hope that Rafa will recall Krisztian Nemeth back, and let him prove his worth. Or for goodness sake, buy another quality striker and not rely on Torres so much. Since the bad-boy Balotelli had officially hand-in a transfer request at Inter, Rafa, try bidding for him. He is another young lad at 20, but from what I see, much better than Ngog.
Next friday morning match will be different with Anfield's faithful being the 12th man behind the team. We can overturn the one-goal deficit and win the match to be in the final on 12th May at Hamburg
25th April 2010
Dilemma...Dilemma...Everywhere...
Seriously, if you ask any Liverpool fan whether they will rather lose the home game to Chelsea or to allow Man Utd to get the 19th League title because of a price-less victory over Chelsea, the answer is quite obvious. But I still believe Rafa will field the strongest squad against Chelsea despite having a tiring Europa match against A.Madrid 2 days ago. This result can very well determine the eventual title winner.
Call me bias, but I can't say the same for the Sunderland vs Man Utd game. Sunderland is managed by Steve Bruce, who was the title-cup-winning captain under Ferguson in the 90s. During the last October match at Old Trafford, Man Utd narrowly escaped a home defeat when Sunderland's Anton Ferdinard scored an own-goal in the 90th minutes, and the match ended in a 2-2 draw.
Sunderland got the required squad and ability to beat Man Utd on the 1th May home match, but I believe Steve Bruce will not field the strongest squad on that day. He definitely won't want to go into the history book as the person costing Man Utd the 19th title. Sunderland is quite comfortable in the 10-13th placing, and Bruce don't even need to psyche the team up. He just need to say," Lads, just go out there and enjoy the game."
I hope that Kenwyne Jones (if he is on the field) will shine at the Stadium of Light, and score another goal or two against Man Utd, and I just got a sixth-sense feeling that Rafa will bid for him again this summer. He is much better than Ngog in my view, and will be a good addition to the Reds squad.
All the above view will be nothing if Chelsea can't even beat Stoke later at 10pm local time. Given that Singapore Pools is so confident that Chelsea will win in giving Chelsea -2.5 balls, they should and will win tonight.
Man Utd's last match is at home vs Stoke too which should once again warrant a -2.5 balls from S. Pools, while Chelsea will take on Wigan at home in their last match.
If you are a neutral, you may hope that the title is decided on the last day and match of the season, but if any foreseeable scenarios were to realise
then the last game of the season maybe just a formality.
Although, I am a long-term die-hard Liverpool fan, but I will cheer for Chelsea to take the title this year, rather than Others.
30th April 2010
What else can I say?!
Once again, Liverpool ended the season trophy-less and to say the truth, the chances of getting the fourth place in the premier league may be over this weekend.
A tiger-head-snake-tail performance from the Reds, and we should have seal-up the match in the first half. A wonderful goal by Aquilani and it should have been many more. Somehow, the players were like flatten ballons in the 2nd half, and nearly paid the price as A.Madrid threaten to score on a few occasions.
I thought we are going to have a All-England final when Benayoun scored with a tight-angle goal until the dreaded goal once again by former Man Utd Forlan nine minutes later. There is an interesting statistic given by the commentator as he mentioned that Forlan only scored 17 goals in about 100 matches he played for Man Utd, and out of those 17, I think I heard that 4 was against Liverpool. He had scored 17 goals in this season alone, and he got his 18th against Liverpool again. He is the nemesis to Liverpool.
Most of the players played well, but Gerrard is again not at his best when the team need him most. Aquilani, Kuyt, Mascherano, Carragher, Agger, Benayoun, Babel, Johnson played their heart out, but Gerrard disappoints the fans with a sub-standard performance.
Fatigue will be all-around when Liverpool host Chelsea this sunday, and it will be a tall order to expect the payers to perform at their peak to beat Chelsea. Rafa will put out the strongest squad, but the morale-draining defeat will be hard to overcome in just 2 days of rest.
Liverpool need to look back and reflect upon this season's failure to win something next season, and to seriously launch an premier league title assault against Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal and now even Man City.
It is as morale-draining to me as well having watched the 120 minutes match, and following the roller-coaster ride to the abyss of defeat.
Even the sky look especially gloomy today.
10th May 2010
The Fat Lady has sung and the dust have settled.
As expected, Chelsea was deservedly crowned the Premier League title with a thrashing 8-0 win against Wigan, and Drogba scored a hat-trick to pip Man Utd's Rooney to win the Golden Boot award. Chelsea is now en route to a League and Cup double in this Saturday FA Cup final against league-relegated Portsmouth.
Well done Chelsea, with so many press reports highlighting how Wigan can beat Chelsea, and one has to ponder why Stoke can't beat Man Utd.
Liverpool once again preformed terribly in away game with Hull, and can managed to secure a lousy draw, with Gerrald hitting the pole in the dying minutes in the game. A win will move them up to sixth place as Villa lost to Blackburn with an own-goal in the 84th minutes. Sadly, for Liverpool now, the season will start in July with the Europa League qualifying games.
It has been a very exciting final weekend in the Premier League as 32 goals were scored in 10 matches, that is about 3.2 goals per match which is an incredible record. For the soccer fans, there are still the equally-exciting Barcelona-Madrid and Inter Milan-Roma final game deciders to look for this weekend. We still have the FA Cup, Europa League and Champions League final before the World Cup starts in June.
To be continued.....
Let me see, I am a football fan for over 20 years when I was in primary school and support Liverpool Football Club since then. Watch the games from free-to-air Channel 5 and 12 (If you don't know this channel, then you should be very young now
) ranging English Divsion 1, FA Cup, League (Coca Cola, Littlewoods, Worthington, Carling) Cup, Serie A, German League, European Cup, Cup Winners Cup, UEFA Cup, European Championship and World Cup then till now pay-to-watch English Premier League (EPL) to now Barclay Premier League (BPL), Champions League and Europa League.It has been great being able to watch so many football matches and superstars displaying their spectacular and amazing skill to score goals and win matches. My CO used to comment that it is so boring and waste-of-time to watch 22 able-bodied man chasing after a small football, but she got "poisoned and psycho" by me and watch the games and cheer and shout with me now.
9th April 2010
A good attacking display by Liverpool produced 4 goals to power past Benfica
into the Europa League semi-final. Finally a much better-than-expected performance from Lucas to show calm and composure in a one-to-one situation with the goalkeeper and ended up rounding the goalie and score the second goal. As usual, Torres show why he is one of the deadly striker in the world to score 2 well-placed goals. He really need to guide Ngog in dealing with such a situation as he could have score the match winner against Birmingham in injury time last weekend.
Liverpool will face Fulham at Anfield this Sunday whom is also in the Europa League semi-final after beating Wolfsburg home and away. Look like we will have a battle of the in-form strikers between Torres and Zamora!
23th April 2010
Another away defeat in the Europa League, this time at the hand of Atletico Madrid. Need a turn-around game at Anfield again to go into the Final. Did it against Lille and Benfica, but Torres was around in those 2 matches, and this time he won't be around for next week's match.
Actually, if you ask me before yesterday match whether I will take 1-0 away defeat, I will reluctantly take it. It is the the manner in which Liverpool lost the match that angered me. I watched the match this morning, and only 3 shots and ZERO shot-on-target for the whole 93 minutes. It is that terrible!
Seriously, I don't think Ngog is of the high-standard required in Liverpool squad. I know he is still at 21 years old but that is not an excuse. Maybe if Voronin was not sold in December, he will perform better than Ngog.
I hope that Rafa will recall Krisztian Nemeth back, and let him prove his worth. Or for goodness sake, buy another quality striker and not rely on Torres so much. Since the bad-boy Balotelli had officially hand-in a transfer request at Inter, Rafa, try bidding for him.
He is another young lad at 20, but from what I see, much better than Ngog.Next friday morning match will be different with Anfield's faithful being the 12th man behind the team. We can overturn the one-goal deficit and win the match to be in the final on 12th May at Hamburg
25th April 2010
Dilemma...Dilemma...Everywhere...
Seriously, if you ask any Liverpool fan whether they will rather lose the home game to Chelsea or to allow Man Utd to get the 19th League title because of a price-less victory over Chelsea, the answer is quite obvious. But I still believe Rafa will field the strongest squad against Chelsea despite having a tiring Europa match against A.Madrid 2 days ago. This result can very well determine the eventual title winner.
Call me bias, but I can't say the same for the Sunderland vs Man Utd game. Sunderland is managed by Steve Bruce, who was the title-cup-winning captain under Ferguson in the 90s. During the last October match at Old Trafford, Man Utd narrowly escaped a home defeat when Sunderland's Anton Ferdinard scored an own-goal in the 90th minutes, and the match ended in a 2-2 draw.
Sunderland got the required squad and ability to beat Man Utd on the 1th May home match, but I believe Steve Bruce will not field the strongest squad on that day. He definitely won't want to go into the history book as the person costing Man Utd the 19th title. Sunderland is quite comfortable in the 10-13th placing, and Bruce don't even need to psyche the team up. He just need to say," Lads, just go out there and enjoy the game."
I hope that Kenwyne Jones (if he is on the field) will shine at the Stadium of Light, and score another goal or two against Man Utd, and I just got a sixth-sense feeling that Rafa will bid for him again this summer. He is much better than Ngog in my view, and will be a good addition to the Reds squad.
All the above view will be nothing if Chelsea can't even beat Stoke later at 10pm local time. Given that Singapore Pools is so confident that Chelsea will win in giving Chelsea -2.5 balls, they should and will win tonight.
Man Utd's last match is at home vs Stoke too which should once again warrant a -2.5 balls from S. Pools, while Chelsea will take on Wigan at home in their last match.
If you are a neutral, you may hope that the title is decided on the last day and match of the season, but if any foreseeable scenarios were to realise
then the last game of the season maybe just a formality.
Although, I am a long-term die-hard Liverpool fan, but I will cheer for Chelsea to take the title this year, rather than Others.
30th April 2010
What else can I say?!
Once again, Liverpool ended the season trophy-less and to say the truth, the chances of getting the fourth place in the premier league may be over this weekend.
A tiger-head-snake-tail performance from the Reds, and we should have seal-up the match in the first half. A wonderful goal by Aquilani and it should have been many more. Somehow, the players were like flatten ballons in the 2nd half, and nearly paid the price as A.Madrid threaten to score on a few occasions.
I thought we are going to have a All-England final when Benayoun scored with a tight-angle goal until the dreaded goal once again by former Man Utd Forlan nine minutes later. There is an interesting statistic given by the commentator as he mentioned that Forlan only scored 17 goals in about 100 matches he played for Man Utd, and out of those 17, I think I heard that 4 was against Liverpool. He had scored 17 goals in this season alone, and he got his 18th against Liverpool again. He is the nemesis to Liverpool.
Most of the players played well, but Gerrard is again not at his best when the team need him most. Aquilani, Kuyt, Mascherano, Carragher, Agger, Benayoun, Babel, Johnson played their heart out, but Gerrard disappoints the fans with a sub-standard performance.
Fatigue will be all-around when Liverpool host Chelsea this sunday, and it will be a tall order to expect the payers to perform at their peak to beat Chelsea. Rafa will put out the strongest squad, but the morale-draining defeat will be hard to overcome in just 2 days of rest.
Liverpool need to look back and reflect upon this season's failure to win something next season, and to seriously launch an premier league title assault against Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal and now even Man City.
It is as morale-draining to me as well having watched the 120 minutes match, and following the roller-coaster ride to the abyss of defeat.
Even the sky look especially gloomy today.
10th May 2010
The Fat Lady has sung and the dust have settled.
As expected, Chelsea was deservedly crowned the Premier League title with a thrashing 8-0 win against Wigan, and Drogba scored a hat-trick to pip Man Utd's Rooney to win the Golden Boot award. Chelsea is now en route to a League and Cup double in this Saturday FA Cup final against league-relegated Portsmouth.
Well done Chelsea, with so many press reports highlighting how Wigan can beat Chelsea, and one has to ponder why Stoke can't beat Man Utd.
Liverpool once again preformed terribly in away game with Hull, and can managed to secure a lousy draw, with Gerrald hitting the pole in the dying minutes in the game. A win will move them up to sixth place as Villa lost to Blackburn with an own-goal in the 84th minutes. Sadly, for Liverpool now, the season will start in July with the Europa League qualifying games.
It has been a very exciting final weekend in the Premier League as 32 goals were scored in 10 matches, that is about 3.2 goals per match which is an incredible record. For the soccer fans, there are still the equally-exciting Barcelona-Madrid and Inter Milan-Roma final game deciders to look for this weekend. We still have the FA Cup, Europa League and Champions League final before the World Cup starts in June.
To be continued.....
First Post
Let me introduce myself: I am a hardcore Liverpool fan living in sunny Singapore. For over 20 years, I have been supporting the team since the 80s and will continue to do so for many more years to come.
I initially started commenting on Liverpool's team performance and players at an Aquatic fish/scaping forum, Aquatic Quotient (AQ). After a few months of discussion and commenting at the forum, I thought of having a personal blog to continue to talk about the team without having "restrictions".
I will repost what I have written in the forum to this blog.
You Will Never Walk Alone!
I initially started commenting on Liverpool's team performance and players at an Aquatic fish/scaping forum, Aquatic Quotient (AQ). After a few months of discussion and commenting at the forum, I thought of having a personal blog to continue to talk about the team without having "restrictions".
I will repost what I have written in the forum to this blog.
You Will Never Walk Alone!
